Mercedes: We are constantly pushing to improve the car

8 April, 2014

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Nico Rosberg

Mercedes AMG Petronas began the first in-season test of 2014 at the Bahrain International Circuit today, with Nico Rosberg at the wheel of the F1 W05 for the first of two days’ running in Sakhir this week. Nico’s best time of 1:35.697 from 121 laps put him first on the time sheets;

Today’s programme ran through a sweep of set-up evaluations

Nico emerged for his first run at 09:15 local time, completing 70 laps in the morning.

A further 51 laps followed in the afternoon, running right up to the chequered flag at 17:30.

Mercedes-Benz Power Units today completed a total of 1,732 km between all teams.

Lewis Hamilton will take the wheel of the F1 W05 for the second and final day of the test tomorrow.

Nico Rosberg: “Our main aim today was to try different directions with set-up and to get to know the tyres a bit better. You never stop learning how to get the best out of the tyres, so it has been a productive day from that perspective. We also did a bit of work on the brakes as this is an area I’m not one hundred percent happy with at the moment. We’ve had a good few weeks on track but you are never at the maximum level of performance. There is always more to be found and we are constantly pushing to improve the car and also ourselves as drivers. Having said that, the team are doing a fantastic job with this car from every perspective. Reliability, car performance, Power Unit performance: it’s all there and it’s a pleasure to be a part of a team with such positive momentum.”